Young pitching?

Ok. So the Yanks gave up Montero for Pineda. They also gave up Noesi for Campos. What does this mean?

First, the catchers. Apparently the Yanks built up Montero (22) knowing he never could catch. They also recognize that with A-Rod and Jeter aging, that they couldn’t have a 22 yr. old DH. Alex and Jete both need to DH… and often.

Francisco Cervelli. 26 in March. .266-4-22 as a backup in 2011. OPS+ 89.

Notice the ages.

Austin Romine remains. The 23 yr. old probably starts the year at AAA. He had a brief (3 for 19) stay with the Yanks in 2011. In 89 games, mostly AA in 2011, .286-6-47.

Now for after Romine…. Gary Sanchez. 19. Low A in 2011. .256-17-52. 82 games.

20 year old J.R. Murphy spent 2011 at low A and High A. .287-7-46, 86 games.

Meaning that if the Yanks felt that Montero could not catch, he was gone.

You can see the depth that the Yanks had in C in the minors, esp. if they believed that all were better defensively than Montero. In return for Montero, they got not one, but TWO pitching studs in Pineda and Campos.

Lastly, Nova. 16-4 with the big club in 2011. 3.70 ERA.
He was 25 yesterday.

There is young talent here, be it in relief (Hughes/Joba/D-Rob or a prospect.) Much as I hate losing Montero, you can see there are catching prospects. (Bat not as good, but better D, handling of pitchers?)

One response to “Young pitching?”

The Montero trade has mixed feelings for me, i’m well aware he was a projected DH as he wasn’t the best defensive catcher in the minors, but even at that i still think he deserved the role as backup to Martin. If you consider the fact that over the course of a 162 game season a catcher will sit out probably 20 or so games in a good year then that’s plenty of time to consider using Montero behind the dish maybe twice a week to allow Jeter, Arod & Tex DH time as needed. Seems odd to me that after months of baulking at giving Montero to other teams he’s pulled the trigger now after seeing the potential the kid has playing at the Stadium.

The one person though that just won the lottery was Francisco Cervelli, now don’t get me wrong i love the kids heart & passion for the game, but i would have concerns over the longevity of his bat. I know he’s got a good career average but Montero bopped more homers in his too brief Yankees career than Cervelli has in around 150ish games less. I know the long ball isn’t everything, but having as many guys in the lineup who are a legitimate threat to go yard plays a serious psychological game with the opposing pitcher. The secondary to this is even when he does connect, only 27 extra base hits over his tenure – rules out the Gardner effect where he might not be likely to take you yard, but he’ll run all round the back yard if he puts it on the outfield grass!

Pineda looks to be a decent pitcher, but i read somewhere about some interesting stats surrounding him, now on first look like i said, decent, but looking deeper, maybe big room for improvement. Road ERA nearly 1.5 higher than at Safeco, ERA against premium opposition is very alarming, albeit in small sample size, but still – very much room for improvement.

We’ll see how it works, but i’m not sure if i was going to lose Montero i’d have wanted a much better return for the investment, projected DH or not that kid would have been a fine addition to the opening day roster in my opinion.